September 14th 2009 Two powerful comments – one specific to Scotland and its debate about self-government and self-determination – but which has wider impact on the relationship of formal power to cultural change; the other a wider truism. Here is Naomi Mitchison, writer, campaigner, radical writing in 1953 about the debate on Scotland’s constitutional status: It seems to me that you are bound to assume that a self-governing Scotland is going to be immediately morally better, and I don’t see it unless there has also been a revolution. I cant see how the people who are likely to govern

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Here is a wee selection of some of the things I have been reading: Momus: The Book of Scotlands An imaginative tour de force from the idiosyncratic and fabulous singer-songwriter. Momus outlines one hundred and fifty fictionalised Scotlands of the past, present and future. Some are no more than a line or two, some are short, crazed essays. There is so much to choose from here that is hilarious and revealing; in particular I like the 1950s story of Alan Lomax and Alfred Kinsey touring the land studying the sex habits of the Scots fiddler; it all sounds so plausible!

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A selection of the things I have been groovin’ to. I was touched by the person who said they had looked at my music lists for inspiration for a gift for their partner and bought one of the albums on my recommendation! Prefab Sprout: Let’s Change The World With Music Finally released and little known to most of us – the intended follow-up to ‘Jordan the Comeback’ was meant to see the light of day in 1992 and rejected by Sony. This is after a couple of listens an inspirational album, full of Paddy McAloon's gorgeous melodies, hooks and lyrics.

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Hopeful Stories for Scottish Men Gerry Hassan Centre for Confidence and Well-Being, September 11^th 2009 The story of Scottish men in overall and specific terms is familiar and dispiriting. The lower levels of life expectancy, poorer health record, ‘the Scottish effect’ and a whole host of other factors. In parts of Scotland the life chances of men are the worst of anywhere in Western Europe, and on a par with some parts of the former Soviet Union, and seemingly shaped by a seeming bleakness and lack of hope. Things on one level are actually worse than ‘the official story’ tells

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Where have all the Scottish Radicals Gone (with apologies to Joan Baez)? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, September  9^th 2009 At a time when the eyes of the world have been upon Scotland, its government and Parliament due to the al-Megrahi case, it is an appropriate moment to ask what happened to the Scots tradition of radicalism? Scotland once had, and still has to an extent, a reputation as a left-wing land, a place of radical politics and possibilities, and is still talked about by some as being a ‘socialist country’. Yet if this were the case where are the current

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The Dream is Over: The Beatles as Product and Getting Over the Sixties Gerry Hassan September 6^th 2009 Let's hear it for the first Beatle Let's hear it for the worst Beatle Let's hear it for the best Beatle The had to get it off his chest Beatle Let's hear it for the lost Beatle The art at any cost Beatle The Beatle with the sense of taste Beatle Who never learned to play his bass Beatle Edwyn Collins, ‘The Beatles’, 2002 (1) In the next few days and weeks lots of press coverage and commentary is going

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The Long March to Scotland’s Independence Referendum Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, September 4th 2009 The world of politics and history sometimes throws up by complete accident fascinating and revealing coincidences. So it proved on the 70th anniversary of Britain and France reluctantly declaring war on Nazi Germany after Hitler had taken the decision two days previously to unleash his war machine on Poland. On such a day laden with history the SNP administration fired the first official shots in the referendum on Scottish independence. Alex Salmond, First Minister, committed his administration to bring forward a bill to hold

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'Libyagate': The Stark Face of ‘Britain plc’ Revealed Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, August 30th 2009 The idea that the British government and the Libyan government would sit down and somehow barter over the freedom or the life of this Libyan prisoner and make it form part of some business deal ... it’s not only wrong, it’s completely implausible and actually quite offensive. Peter Mandelson, First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, President of the Board of Trade and Lord President of the Council  (1) Nobody doubted that Libya wanted BP and BP was

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The Consequences of the Lockerbie Release and the Fools of Devolution Gerry Hassan Open Democracy. August 28th 2009 The fallout after the al-Megrahi case continues to show that devolution – and Scottish devolution in particular – has the capacity to show the limited understanding that many have about the current constitutional state of the UK. Worse than that for many this boils over into resentment, anger and rage, which at points is directed at the Scottish Government and Parliament, and sometimes ‘Scotland’ as an entity. James Macintyre’s short piece in today’s New Statesman, ‘The Folly of Devolution’, is a

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The Releasing of al-Megrahi: Scotland’s Parliament Debates Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, August 24th 2009 The decision by the Scottish Government to release the convicted Libyan bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person who has been found guilty for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which blew up over Lockerbie, has had huge consequences, both domestic – in Scotland and the UK, and internationally. The ripples and waves caused by the Scottish Government’s release of al-Megrahi are manifold, and show how Scotland, its statehood and nationhood are misunderstood – from Scotland, to the UK and further afield. Firstly, the recall

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